Lower margins for PM's

A possible explanation for the inexplicable drop in the price of precious metals, when demand has never been higher. SMF069

CME lowers gold & silver margins

Thu Nov 15, 2012 6:29pm EST

Nov 15 (Reuters) - The CME Group on Thursday lowered margins for natural gas, gold,
silver, copper, lean hog and live cattle futures, effective after close of business on Tuesday,
Nov. 20.

CME, the biggest operator of U.S. futures exchanges, cut initial margins on COMEX 100 Gold
Futures 18.5 percent to $7,425 a contract from $9,113, but left maintenance margins for the
yellow metal unchanged.

The exchange operator trimmed maintenance margins to trade silver to $11,000 per contract,
from $12,500, and initial margins to $12,100 from $16,875 per contract.

Maintenance margins for copper were lowered by 12.5 percent to $3,500 per contract from
$4,000, while maintenance margins to trade natural gas Henry Hub futures as well as NYMEX
natural gas futures were clipped 10 percent each.

Among agricultural commodities, maintenance margins for lean hogs and live cattle futures
were pared 16 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.